Replacing Slide Floor - Montana Owners Club

Drifty1 · 10-31-2013, 05:15 AM

I am looking for some input on replacing the dining room slide floor. I have been having a few problems with slide for a while and have located part on the problem is the floor has started to break down where the floor drops down and sits on the sill plate. I was hoping to make it last till I can tow it to Quartzsite next fall,but I do not think I can make it last. I would like to take it there so I can take my time and do it right in dryer weather. Besides that way I can get some cheap help as my Dad and his buddy who is a retired RV repair tech live there full time.
What I would like to know is the floor a one piece sheet of plywood and what is the thickness? I am thinking of using MDO plywood for the replacement as it has good exterior properties. This mat'l is used on road signs so it does stand up to weather.
If anyone has had a repair shop do the work could you past along the cost to do this project.

hookman · 10-31-2013, 05:44 AM

I had to have mine replaced last year. They took the slide out and laid it down on the side. They laminated 2 pieces of 1/2" plywood together which increased the thickness by 1/8" of an inch as they could not get a piece of plywood the right length. They put the joints near the ends instead of the middle like the factory. The price in Canada was $3800, it was a good thing the insurance covered it.

1retired06 · 10-31-2013, 07:23 AM

A week or so ago, there was some discussion on this forum where someone linked to a two part video providing step by step instruction on slide floor replacement. Try a search. It was a significant project, but doable without removing the slide.

Tom S. · 10-31-2013, 07:56 AM

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=55754

There are links in the third post that show a video on how to do it.

Bill-N-Donna · 10-31-2013, 09:02 AM

I had a bad floor in our previous Montana on the back drivers side slide. I started out to change the floor and discovered it appeared to be all in one piece and over 8’ long. I removed a corner of it where the wood was rotten and then decided it was way too big of a job for me to do. It appeared that the slide actually needed to come out in order to do it correctly. At this point I traded it in for a newer one.

Alwims · 10-31-2013, 10:51 AM

I posted those 2 video's that Tom is referencing. We did it following those video's. It's not the easiest job we ever did, but it's doable with a little time and help. You don't need any special tools, as was reference by one member in the other thread, just common tools will work. Obviously they were not working on a Montana, but the principle is the same. Good luck.

Phil P · 10-31-2013, 11:53 AM

I had to replace one end wall and floor. The repair was performed with the slide still in the trailer but extended all the way out. Cost $9,000.00 in round figures.

Phil P

brooksider · 10-31-2013, 12:16 PM

I just replaced my complete floor in the bed room slide. It was a day long job and not too difficult. Support the slide from the two ends so you can remove the old floor and replace with new. My floor was 3/4".
Joe

Drifty1 · 10-31-2013, 01:44 PM

I see there are a lot of good ideas ot there.. I stopped at a place in town today to ask what it would cost to replace the floor and was told between $1000 -$2000. They had just done one and it ran $2500 but they had to do a lot of work on a bad side wall at the same time. They use a marine grade plywood for the replacement. I could use Bill's idea about trading but I am to cheap and my trailer works just fine for us. I was thinking about doing my self so I could experiment with a couple of different ideas having to do with the dropped floor as I do not think to much about Montana's design. Sorry must be a Pipefitters thing about tinkering to make a better operating mouse trap. Right Ozz!!! Thanks for all the feedback so far.

Bill-N-Donna · 11-01-2013, 07:36 AM

Let me add this; when we went to make a trade we had a dollar amount in mind that we thought would be a reasonable amount for a trade in the condition it was in. They came very close to matching what we had in mind dollar for dollar. They sold the Montana we traded in about 2 weeks after that. Someone was looking for something they could work on their self. Overall we were very satisfied with the trade and don’t feel we took a loss.

gjetzen · 11-02-2013, 02:42 AM

I may be wrong bet Aren't the floors in the Montana's warranted for 25 years?

Drifty1 · 11-03-2013, 03:22 AM

Yes they are warranted for 25 years, sort of. First off you have to be the original owner and then they pay to have it replaced at a price they deem equal to the original factory cost to install that part of the floor. So my slide might take a couple of hours to install on the factory floor so that is what they would pay for. Since I am not the original owner for me it will not help me. But thanks for bringing up this option for other folks with this problem.

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